UK's first drug consumption room to open in Glasgow this month

The UK’s first drug consumption room is to open in Glasgow later this month after a series of delays.

The facility, in the east end of Glasgow, was due to open to drug users in October, allowing them to take illegal substances under medical supervision.

But final checks to the water and ventilation systems in the building postponed the opening for several months.

Glasgow City Council confirmed on Friday that the facility, known as The Thistle, will finally open on the city’s Hunter Street on January 13.

Glasgow & West

Inside the UK’s first drug consumption room in Glasgow

Users will be able to take illegal drugs under medical supervision at £2.3m facility planned for the city’s east end.

Councillor Allan Casey, the city convener for workforce, homelessness and addiction services, said: “We are obviously delighted that the required tests have now concluded, and the facility can open on Monday, 13 January.

“We have been pushing for a safer drug consumption facility for some time. It’s a welcome relief to know we can finally have people in to access the service and support available within the Thistle.

“We know from all the other safer drug consumption rooms in operation across the world that they do make a difference.”

The Thistle will operate daily from 9am to 9pm, 365 days of the year.

Scotland’s rate of recorded drug deaths remains higher than other parts of the UK and European nations.

The estimated date for the drug consumption room was initially announced last August, a day after national statistics revealed a 12% rise in drug deaths in Scotland during 2023, claiming a total of 1,172 lives.

While the idea of a drugs consumption room was first proposed in 2016 following an HIV outbreak in Glasgow, its development was embroiled in years of political wrangling between the Scottish and UK governments.

But in 2023 Scotland’s most senior law officer, Lord Advocate Dorothy Bain KC, announced it would not be “in the public interest” to prosecute people using such a facility.

The pilot project in Hunter Street is in the same building as a current drug treatment facility and was approved by the Glasgow City Integration Joint Board in September 2023.